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The Eagles will open the 2024 season with a game Friday night in Brazil, commissioner Roger Goodell said during his media talk in Las Vegas.
This will be the first NFL game in South America and the first NFL season opener on a Friday since September 18, 1970, when the Rams beat the Cards 34-13 at the LA Coliseum.
The match will be played on September 6 at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, which has a capacity for 47,252 spectators. It is the stadium of the Sport Club Corinthians Paulista football team and was used for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and for football at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Eagles’ opponent and start time will be announced at a later date.
“The Eagles organization is honored to have been selected to play the first National Soccer League game in South America,” Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement.
“With the global growth of our sport being a priority for our league, we seized the opportunity to grow our fan base around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil. “One of the most culturally diverse nations in the world, Brazil is an international melting pot and we look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant and welcoming atmosphere later this year.”
This will count as an Eagles home game. They are scheduled for nine home games in 2024, so they will still have eight regular season games at the Linc. Their road opponents in 2024, in addition to their three division games, are the Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Packers, Jaguars and Steelers. The Jaguars play in London every year, so they are a potential opponent.
The last time the Eagles opened a season on a Friday was Sept. 24, 1948, when they lost to the Chicago Cards 21-14 at Comiskey Park. But they won their first NFL championship three months later at Shibe Park.
The last time the Eagles played on a Friday was Sept. 30, 1960, when they beat the Cowboys 27-25 in the Cotton Bowl. They also won the NFL Championship that year.
Overall, the Eagles are 2-5-1 on Fridays, including consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Lions within a week of each other in 1935.
Friday games in the NFL were common in the 1960s, but since 1970 there have only been 11, including a Jets-Dolphins game last December 24 on Christmas Eve.
This will be the Eagles’ second regular season game abroad. They beat the Jaguars 24-18 at London’s Wembley Stadium in October 2018.
They also played preseason games abroad against the Saints in Mexico City in 1978, in London in 1989 against the Browns and in 1991 against the Bills and in 1993 against the Saints.
“This historic first international game in South America demonstrates the continued expansion of our global presence,” Goodell said. “Playing on Friday night of Week 1 is a unique way to highlight our growth and international ambitions.”
Other international matches in 2024 with the “home” team will be in London (Bears, Vikings, Jaguars) and Munich, Germany (Panthers).
Since international regular-season games began in 2007, the NFL has had 36 games in London, five in Mexico City and two in Germany.